


Possessed By Light

by TrashMonster



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Alpha Harry, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Famous Harry, M/M, Mpreg, Mpreg Louis, Non-Famous Louis, Omega Louis
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-02-10
Updated: 2016-04-22
Packaged: 2018-05-19 11:34:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 19,601
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5965924
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrashMonster/pseuds/TrashMonster
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Despite fame and touring commitments, Harry has always returned to Louis. However, their childhood friendship turned friends-with-benefits is complicated when Louis falls pregnant. </p><p>Desperate to make sure this doesn't ruin Harry's career, Louis pushes him away, refusing to even consider a future with the only alpha he's ever loved.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Harry’s hands came up to cup Louis’ cheeks, pulling him in for another kiss. Louis had lost count of the number of kisses they’d exchanged since Harry had flown in from LA, but the marks that littered his body showed they had been numerous. Louis wouldn’t complain though; each purpling bruise was a sign of Harry’s devotion, at least in that moment. Each bite and kiss sucked into his skin was a moment when Harry had been thinking of him, and only him. It helped him forget about Harry’s months away on tour, the anxiety of who he may have been with. 

Harry wasn’t his; he had to remind himself of that. Louis was Harry’s normality in the storm of fame that had so suddenly found him, but they weren’t together. Harry probably slept with numerous betas and omegas while he was on tour. Just because he spent more time sleeping at Louis’ flat in his off months than his own plush penthouse meant nothing. Just because he chose to spend his ruts with Louis meant absolutely nothing. He couldn’t expect anything from Harry. 

He bit down on a groan as Harry sucked a nipple into his mouth. It had been too long since they’d been able to take their time like this. Not since New Year. Not since - 

Harry let out a small moan as his hand found Louis’ cock, dipping beneath the waistband and pumping Louis gently before moving lower. “I can’t wait for your heat, babe.” 

Fuck. 

Louis stilled momentarily beneath Harry’s hands. It was only for a second, but it was enough for Harry’s head to shoot up in alarm.

“What’s wrong, Lou?” His hair flopped across his face and he pushed it back roughly, his eyes never leaving Louis’. “Are you okay?”

Harry had flown in over 48 hours ago and Louis still hadn’t been able to tell him. He nodded urgently, surging back up to Harry’s waiting lips, pretending just for a moment that Harry’s concern was something more. 

Harry let Louis continue the kiss, but stopped Louis’ groping hands going any further.

“Tell me that you’re okay, first, and then we can continue,” he murmured against Louis’ lips, making sure Louis’s hands didn’t stray any further past his hips.

“I’m okay.” Louis could hear the lie in his voice. So could Harry. 

“Come on, Lou,” Harry said, peppering his face with gentle kisses. “You can talk to me.”

“It’s nothing, really. I just . . .” Louis trailed off, but Harry was like a dog with a bone. He waited expectantly, continuing to brush soft kisses against Louis’ skin. “I just missed you, is all,” Louis finished. He could feel the blush spreading down his body and hoped Harry didn’t notice. The sly smile on Harry’s face suggested he had, though.

“Awwh,” Harry teased, his eyes shining in the light. “My strong, independent omega missed me, yeah? What happened to not needing an alpha around all the time?” 

“I don’t,” Louis bit out. “I don’t need an aggressive alpha hanging around my home, eating my food and stinking up the place with their ruts, treating me like I need them to function.”

“I know,” Harry soothed immediately. Alphas were an infamous sore sport for Louis: Harry was the only alpha he’d let touch him in years. “I was just teasing.” He slipped his hands down Louis’ back, squeezing at Louis’s butt cheeks before spreading them slowly. 

“You’re always teasing,” Louis said, biting back a groan as Harry’s fingers drifted over his hole. 

“You wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Louis let out another groan as Harry’s finger slipped inside him. “No,” he managed to gasp. “I really, really wouldn’t.” 

***

Harry’s cock gave a final shudder, releasing the last spurt of his cum. His teeth grazed Louis’ neck, a phantom bite as he groaned out Louis’ name, his hands tightening around Louis. 

Usually Louis would buck back against him, soaking up every last moment, revelling in the wrecked sound of his name from Harry’s lips, but all he could think about was the way Harry’s large hand splayed across his stomach. 

“Tell me,” Harry said, his voice raw. “I’m worried.” 

Louis felt like his heart would beat right out of his chest as Harry pressed a soothing kiss against the phantom bite. He’d put this moment off for too long already. 

Harry would understand why he hadn’t told him over the phone, but two days of being in each other’s company, of sleeping and fucking together? He wasn’t sure if Harry would forgive that. 

“I don’t know where to start.”

“Wherever you need to,” Harry replied, his voice gentle and reassuring. He slipped out of Louis, pulling him into a deep kiss to distract from the emptiness he knew Louis hated. 

“I should have told you sooner.” Louis could feel his eyes water as Harry cocooned him within his arms. 

“Told me what?” Harry’s eyes were so beautiful. So trusting. 

His hand was still wrapped around Louis’ stomach. 

The words felt heavy in Louis’ mouth, unwilling to be spoken. Unwilling to change the dynamic they’d so easily enjoyed for so long. Gently, he pressed a hand against Harry’s, against his own stomach. 

“I’m pregnant.”

He couldn’t bring himself to look up at Harry, to see the devastation in his eyes. He didn’t want his worst fears confirmed. 

The silence in the room was painful. He could hear Harry’s gentle breaths, the slight hitch as Louis had spoken. His hadn’t moved, his hand still warm against Louis’ abdomen. 

He became horribly aware of the slick covering the sheets, of Harry’s cum leaking out of him. This wasn’t the right time to tell him. He should have waited until they were dressed and showered, until they’d eaten something, or at least until they weren’t lying in a bed. Knowing them, though, it would have been days before that had happened. 

No, it was the right time to tell him. He couldn’t have put it off any longer. 

The silence continued to drag out. It had probably only been moments, but it felt like hours. Louis wanted to say something, reassure Harry that this didn’t have to mean anything, that this didn’t have to _change_ anything, but of course it did. It changed everything. 

“Okay.” 

The word pierced the claustrophobic silence. 

Louis almost couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His eyes looked up to meet Harry’s. The fear he was expecting wasn’t there; neither was the betrayal. The most he could decipher was perhaps a gentle concern. 

Of course. Of course Harry would be like this. He was far too noble for his own good. He wanted to hit the bastard.

“Aren’t you going to ask if it’s yours?”

“I know it’s mine,” Harry replied, his thumb softly moving across Louis’ stomach. 

He was being maddeningly calm. Louis was ready for a fight, for shouting, an outburst, _something_. Not this calm acceptance. 

“But how can you be sure, Harry? You should at least ask for a paternity test.” He scrambled out of Harry’s arms, unaccountably irritated. This was absolutely not going the way he had planned. 

Harry’s forehead deepened into a frown. “Do you _want_ me to ask for a paternity test?”

“No! Of course not. I’m just worried about you, you big oaf. Do you take the word of every omega who claims you knocked them up?”

“It’s never happened before, but I know that, above all things, I trust you, Louis. You wouldn’t lie to me.” 

Harry pressed a kiss to Louis’ forehead. 

This was all too tender. Too calm. Why wasn’t Harry freaking out? Louis had cried for a full week when he’d found out, only Liam’s gentle insistence that it wasn’t the end of the world stopping him from doing anything stupid. 

“You don’t have to be involved.” Louis blurted the words before he could stop himself, his eyes falling shut reflexively so he didn’t have to see the moment Harry agreed. “I won’t ask you for money, or go to the media. Nobody has to know.”

The heat of Harry’s hands fell away from his body. Louis felt his absence like a physical pain. 

“I’m so proud of everything you’ve achieved, Harry. I won’t ruin that for you.” 

Still, Harry didn’t say anything. Didn’t touch him, or move.

Louis opened his eyes, afraid of what he would see. 

Harry was sat beside him, his head bowed, his hands in his hair. 

“Is that what you want?” he asked eventually. His voice was so small Louis strained to hear. “Do you want me to stay away?” 

No. If Louis had his way Harry would never leave, but he couldn’t tell him that.

“I want what you want,” he said instead. “I don’t want you to feel trapped. It’s my decision to keep it, but that doesn’t mean your life has to change too.”

Slowly, Harry’s hand crept into Louis’. Warm and familiar, as always. 

“You’re my best friend, Lou. I wouldn’t let you go through this alone.” He sounded so sincere; Louis wanted to believe him. 

“But still - I don’t want you to make any rash decisions. I’ve had time to think about this; you’ve only just found out.”

Harry nodded slowly. “I’m not going to change my mind.”

“I know. But humour me, okay?” 

“Okay.” Harry nodded again. His eyes were too serious, too heavy. 

“I can’t believe you aren’t freaking out?”

Harry didn’t answer. Instead he shifted down the bed until his head was level with Louis’ stomach. His hands traced against the smooth skin there, the bump not yet showing. He pressed a single, reverent kiss to Louis’ skin.

“I’m not going to freak out, Lou.” His eyes were steady as he held Louis’ gaze. “I promise.” 

He waited until Louis nodded, then slid back up the bed, pressing another kiss to Louis’s lips. They’d kissed so many times already, in so many different ways, but this brush of lips against lips felt special to Louis. Important. 

“Let’s get some rest, okay?” Harry murmured. 

Louis nodded, slipping down into his customary position, letting Harry wrap his arms tightly around him, their legs twining together. 

For the first time in weeks, Louis fell asleep without worrying about the future. Whatever happened, they were going to be okay. Harry wouldn’t abandon him. Louis wouldn’t have to go through this alone.

***

The next morning, Harry was gone. 

Louis wished he wasn’t so surprised.


	2. Chapter 2

Zayn was not an early morning person, which partially explained why he’d already punched Harry in the nuts before 7am. 

“You fucking left him?” Zayn snarled as Harry hunched on the floor.

That was the other reason. 

“I’m going back. Obviously.” Harry groaned. “But I had to talk to you.” 

He tried to pull himself up against the couch, but one look at Zayn’s face suggested he should probably stay where he was on the floor.

Zayn paced furiously, his usually beautiful face riddled with scorn. 

“Don’t you think you should be talking to him?”

“Would you just listen to me?” Harry bit out, his pain merging into general nausea. Zayn didn’t stop pacing. “ _Listen to me!_ ” He made an attempt to grab Zayn’s ankle as he passed him, almost tripping the man in the process. 

Zayn came to an impatient stop before him, glaring. “Fine. Go on.”

Harry dared to pull himself into a sitting position. He felt pitiful. He was pretty sure he looked pitiful too as he ran his hands through his knotted hair. “He hates alphas.”

Zayn sighed heavily. “He does not hate alphas. He doesn’t hate me, and he definitely doesn’t hate you.” 

“But - ”

“He dislikes the idea of alphas, sure. He doesn’t like what they represent, but he’s always been fine with me, so none of this bullshit ‘he doesn’t like alphas’ nonsense. That’s not a good reason for waking me up so bloody early, or leaving him to wake up by himself.” 

Zayn looked like he might punch him again.

“He won’t wake up by himself,” Harry hurried to reassure. “I’m going back to him.”

Zayn levelled a long stare at Harry, searching for something. Apparently he found what he was looking for, because he offered Harry a curt nod instead of another punch. 

“Alright. Then what is it?”

“What if he doesn’t want me?”

“Did he say that last night?”

“Not exactly.”

Zayn sat down heavily across from Harry at that. 

“Okay, help me out here: what exactly is the problem?”

“He - he so clearly doesn’t want me involved. I thought he’d be happy when I said we were in it together, but it was like he was trying to persuade me otherwise. Like he wanted me to go. To not be involved.”

“Did he say why?”

“Yeah. Some bullshit about not wanting to ruin my career. As if having a baby would do that.”

Zayn shrugged. 

“It would certainly change your image. I’m the mysterious one. Niall’s the funny one. You’re the one who sleeps with anything on two legs and doesn’t do commitment.”

“That is not me,” Harry snapped. He hated that image. He hated that he couldn’t be seen talking to anyone without the media spinning it into some scandal. 

“No, but the world doesn’t know that.”

“Well it doesn’t matter. I don’t care what my image is. I’m not going to pretend I don’t have a kid so we can sell more fucking albums.”   
“And I’m not asking you to, mate,” Zayn reassured, quickly coming to sit beside him on the floor. “Niall and I wouldn’t do that. But Louis’ probably worried what our management’ll do. Or what the fans will do. He’s just looking out for you.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” 

Zayn hesitated then, clearly wanting to ask something sensitive. Harry hated that he knew that about him. Clearly they spent too much time touring together.

“Just ask. Whatever it is, just ask.”

“Well, have you and Louis ever talked about - about whatever it is you two are? Or about how you’re not actually fucking anything that moves?”

No. He’d thought about mentioning it, about reassuring Louis he wasn’t with anyone else, but Louis had never asked. He’d acted like he didn’t care if Harry was with anyone else, and Harry hadn’t wanted to come on too strong and ruin what they had. He hadn’t wanted to lose Louis, and now it looked like he was going to anyway.

Zayn rolled his eyes, taking Harry’s silence for an answer.

“Are you seriously telling me you and Louis have never talked about what you are? Never?”

“It’s not come up.”

“Yeah. I can see how that happens. What with all those ruts and heats you spend together. Nothing coupley about that, yeah?”

“Shut up.” Harry had briefly forgotten how sarcastic Zayn could be. “Louis always says he wants to be independent. He doesn’t want to be mated. He doesn’t want an alpha. I respect that. I respect _him_. I’m not going to do anything he doesn’t want.” 

“But now there’s a baby to consider. Maybe he’s changed his mind.”

“I doubt it.” 

“Just ask him, mate.” 

Harry felt guilty then. He could hear the slight edge of impatience in Zayn’s voice. It really was too early in the morning for this. But still, he couldn’t quite manage to drag himself away and return to Louis’ flat to face the rejection he was sure would be waiting for him. 

“Tell him how you feel, Harry. What’s the worst that could happen?”

Harry snorted. “I tell him how I feel - that love him, I want to spend the rest of my life with him, that I’ve always wanted that and the baby doesn’t change anything - and he turns around and breaks my heart.”

“Or,” Zayn tried, “you tell him how you feel and he reciprocates. Or, you tell him how you feel and if he doesn’t feel the same - ” 

Harry whimpers just at the thought of it and Zayn breaks off for a moment to squeeze him into a reassuring hug.

“Just listen. Even if - and that’s a very big ‘if’ because I’ve seen the way the two of you look at each other and there’s no way he doesn’t feel something - but, even if he says he doesn’t feel the same, at least he’ll know you’re serious about being involved with the baby. You’re not just saying it out of a sense of duty. And I know him: if he thinks you’re not just being noble then he won’t push you away. You’ll be involved with the birth, the baby, everything.”

Harry wasn’t sure when he’d started crying, but he couldn’t stop now.

“Fuck. This is a disaster.”

Zayn continued to squeeze him into a hug, waiting for him to go on.

“I was going to tell him. I swear. You know I was.”

“I know.”

“But now he’s going to think I’m saying it because of the baby. And I’m not. He’s my whole fucking world, Zayn.”

“So tell him. Convince him. You’ll never know if you don’t try.” 

***

The tears came after Liam arrived. He’d been holding it together before that, convinced he’d find Harry hidden somewhere in his tiny apartment, no matter how ridiculous that seemed. Two days ago he would have expected this. He would have expected Harry to leave him. But sometime last night, between Harry’s kisses and gentle words, he’d started to believe. 

“Have you tried calling him?” Liam tried, cradling Louis against his shoulder. 

“He doesn’t answer.” Louis wiped uselessly at his eyes. 

“But all his stuff is still here . . .” 

Liam gestured absently around the bedroom, where Harry’s things were scattered about aimlessly. Louis didn’t want to admit that Harry left things so regularly at his flat he had his own storage space in Louis’ closet. 

“He’ll probably send his assistant for everything. If he even wants them. He can afford to replace everything anyway. Makes it less - messy.” He sunk further into Liam’s embrace, comforted by his warm beta smell. “I don’t know what to do.” 

He’d tried making a contingency plan before speaking to Harry, but Liam had told him he was worrying for no reason. A spiteful part of Louis wanted to point out how wrong Liam had been. Instead, he choked back another sob.

“You’ll never leave me, right, Liam?”

“Right,” Liam murmured, lowering Louis onto the bed and tucking the blankets around him, politely not commenting on the state of the sheets. 

A fresh wave of tears hit Louis at Liam’s gentleness.

“I’m being pathetic.”

“You’re not.” 

“I am, but I don’t care. I just want a hug.” He pulled Liam down beside him, wrapping his arms tightly around his firm body. 

“Don’t cry, love. Everything’s going to be okay. He’s coming back. I promise.”

Promises meant shit to Louis right now. Harry had promised him last night. Promised he wouldn’t change his mind. Still, Liam was just trying to help, which was the only thing that stopped Louis from saying something he knew he’d regret.

“You should rest.” 

Again, Louis bit back a mean retort. He knew Liam wasn’t trying to get rid of him, sick of dealing with a crying omega, but it felt a little bit like that. 

He was tired though. He felt like he’d been crying for hours. He probably had been. Maybe Liam was right. 

He rolled onto his side without another word, letting Liam curl around his back. He tried to bite back another sob at the thought that he and Harry had fallen asleep like this just last night, with Harry’s hand snaking round to rest on his stomach. He wondered how long Harry had stayed after that, if he’d even slept or had just waited until Louis was unconscious and had slipped out then. 

It didn’t matter, not really. Either way, Harry had still left and Louis had woken up alone. 

***

Harry had recognised the second scent the moment he stepped into the apartment. Growing up together, Liam’s scent was almost as familiar to him as Louis’. It had been a surprise to smell him there, but he hadn’t worried. Not at first. He’d had other things on his mind, like telling Louis he loved him. 

Of course, that was when he’d entered the bedroom to find Liam and Louis curled up together. 

His heart dropped to the floor. 

He hadn’t even considered that Louis might be involved with someone else. He’d always assumed that Louis was as exclusive as Harry was, even if they’d never talked about it. 

But Liam?

Harry could feel the possessive, jealous part of his alpha instincts rear their head and he fought desperately to tamp it down. He was better than that. He wasn’t going to cause a scene.

He moved to leave, to get out of there before he did something stupid, but luck was against him as Liam’s eyes slipped open. 

Of fucking course. Harry couldn’t even let his heart break in private. 

Liam watched him from across the room before silently disentangling himself from Louis and slipping out of the bed.

“We should talk,” he said, placing a gentle hand on Harry’s arm and steering him from the room.

Harry wanted to rip his head off. 

Liam shut the door quietly behind them and continued on into the kitchen. He folded his arms and levelled Harry with a stormy look. 

“Where did you go?” Liam’s voice was steely, brooking no argument. 

“When the fuck were you going to tell me?” Harry countered.

It took Liam a moment to register the new direction in conversation. His brow furrowed. 

“What?”

“Louis didn’t have to tell me. Not if he didn’t want me to know,” Harry snapped, trying to ignore the idea that Louis would hide this from him. “But you know how I feel, Li. You _know_ and yet you did this anyway.”

Liam continued to look confused. 

“What?” he asked again. 

“You and Louis,” Harry said, the crack in his voice painfully obvious as he said Louis’ name. “How long have you been together?”

A familiar look crossed Liam’s face, similar to the one Zayn had worn this morning right before he’d punched Harry.

“You stupid bloody alpha,” Liam cursed. “We’re obviously not together. Never have been, and you’d know that if you weren’t letting your possessive side think for you right now.”

“But, you were in bed together.” And shit, Harry was pretty sure he was going to start crying again. There had been far too much crying for him today. 

“You’ve seen us cuddle a thousand times before. And I’m pretty sure if you were thinking straight you’d be glad someone was here to put your mate back together again after you walked out on him.”

He said that last part so coldly Harry was pretty sure he felt a chill in the air.

“He’s not my mate,” he murmured quietly. “And I didn’t walk out on him.”

Liam heaved a heavy sigh. “Harry, you’ve been gone almost all day. What was Louis supposed to think?”

“I don’t know. I wasn’t thinking. I just - I went to speak to Zayn and then - and then I had to go do something.”

“And you didn’t think to at least call him?”

“I wasn’t thinking!” Harry ran his hands through his hair desperately, only mildly aware of how much he needed to brush it. “You know I wouldn’t leave him.” 

“I know, but what was I supposed to tell him? You made me promise.”

That surprised Harry. Liam had been keeping his secret since they were teenagers and had never breathed a word, but he’d always been closer to Louis than he was to Harry. He was oddly touched to know that, even now, when Louis had been distraught, Liam hadn’t broken his trust.

In hindsight, that was exactly the type of stupid thing Liam would do.

“You could have reassured him,” Harry said. “I wouldn’t have minded you telling him, not if he thought I’d left him.”

Liam shrugged. “He wouldn’t have believed me. I’ve been telling him for weeks that you would be okay with it. If he didn’t believe that he certainly wasn’t going to believe me if I said you loved him.”

Harry sunk back against the kitchen counter, the solid surface behind him the only thing currently keeping him on his feet. 

“He’s gotta hear it from you, Harry. That’s the only way he’s going to listen.”

“I know. I’m going to talk to him. Convince him there’s no where else I’d rather be.” He looked up at Liam then, his eyes watering ridiculously. “I’m just afraid he’s not going to want me.”

Liam snorted. “You and I both know you two should be mates. Hell, Louis probably knows it too.”

“Louis doesn’t want a mate,” Harry replied automatically, having reminded himself of that thousands of times since Louis first told him. 

Liam shrugged again, seemingly unconvinced. 

“Maybe. Maybe not. Either way, you’ve got to talk to him.”

“That’s what Zayn said.” 

Liam smiled, a slight blush pinking his cheeks. “Good bloke, that.” 

Any other time and he would have teased Liam for his obvious crush on Harry’s bandmate, but now wasn’t the time. Hopefully, if everything went well with Louis, he could remind Liam of this later.

“I’ll let him know you think so,” Harry said instead. 

He glanced back at the bedroom.

“Is he okay?”

“Not really,” Liam replied. “Didn’t say much. A lot of crying, though.”

Harry really wished he’d thought to call. He’d been so focused, so determined to prove to Louis how serious he was about their future, that he’d forgotten about everything else. And now Louis probably hated him. Harry couldn’t blame him. It was a terrible thing to have done, even if he’d done it accidentally. 

“I’ll leave you to it,” Liam said then, breaking Harry from his reverie. “He’s probably going to be furious with you at first. Just give him space.”

Again, Harry’s alpha instincts reared up, wanting to snap at Liam for assuming he didn’t know how to care for his mate. He bit the impulse down. Liam was only trying to help, and Louis wasn’t even his mate, no matter what his heart told him. 

He muttered a goodbye to Liam, watching as he collected his coat and slipped out the front door. 

Harry breathed deeply, grounding himself. If everything went well tonight, he was just about to start the rest of his life. He took another deep breath, trying not to panic. 

His efforts were completely wasted the moment he heard the bedroom door open. He felt like he was about to have a heart attack from the way his heart sped up as Louis emerged. 

Louis blinked blearily, the last effects of sleep slowly releasing him. Harry saw the moment he registered who was standing in his kitchen; Louis’ whole body tensed, his eyes turning flinty and hard.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Louis asked, his voice raw from crying.

“Louis,” Harry started.

“Get the fuck out of here,” Louis snapped.

“Louis,” Harry tried again.

“I mean it. Fuck off.”

Louis had the same look Zayn had had this morning, right before he’d punched Harry. The same one Liam had earlier too. Out of all of them, Louis was the only one Harry wouldn’t blame for wanting to punch him.

“Just listen to me, Lou,” Harry said, reaching out for him. 

Louis snapped his arm out of reach, jerking back into the bedroom doorway as if he might shut himself in there. Harry couldn’t let that happen. He had to try.

Desperately, he swooped down on to one knee. His hands dug into his jacket pockets, searching for the ring box he’d made a seven hour round trip for this afternoon. He’d stored it in his childhood bedroom since he was a teenager, and now was finally the moment he could show it to Louis, could let him know how he felt, how he’d always felt. 

“Louis.”

Pure panic crossed Louis’ face.

“Get the fuck up, you idiot.” He lurched forward, desperately trying to tug Harry onto his feet. 

“Please, Lou.”

“No!”

Louis sounded pained, his breaths harsh and frantic.

“Don’t do this, Harry. Do not do this. I can’t take it. I can’t.” 

And now Louis was crying. He’d made his - his Louis cry. 

Harry withdrew his hand from his jacket without the ring box. He didn’t think there were words for what was happening to his heart right now. It was beyond breaking. It was disintegrating, turning to ash, leaving him hollow.

“Louis,” he said again, hoping beyond hope that this was all some sort of mistake.

“I can’t even look at you right now,” Louis stuttered, turning away. “Just go.”

“But - ”

“I don’t know what the fuck you were thinking, Harry, but this is not the answer.” Louis still wouldn’t look at him. “I need you to go.”

Harry remained on his knee for a moment longer, stunned. 

Was Louis kicking him out permanently? 

“What about the baby?” he said quietly. Maybe Louis didn’t want his heart, but surely he wouldn’t keep Harry from their child.

“We’ll talk about this later. But not now. Not right now. I need to be alone. Okay?”

Harry nodded mutely, climbing to his feet. He couldn’t take his eyes off Louis, drinking him in as if this was the last time he’d ever see him. 

When it became apparent Louis wasn’t going to say anything else, let alone look at him, Harry shuffled toward the door and let himself out.

He couldn’t ignore that he felt like he was leaving his heart behind with Louis.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you guys are still enjoying this! Thanks for your comments and kudos :)


	3. Chapter 3

It had been two weeks since Harry last saw Louis. Two fucking awful weeks. 

He’d spent the first few days absolutely despondent on Zayn’s couch, refusing to shower or sober up. Zayn had been sympathetic at first, making him cups of tea and never once telling Harry he was an idiot for trying to propose. Of course, then Harry had moved from tea to alcohol and Zayn had yelled at him. Thrown a couple of couch pillows at him. Subtly suggested Harry should return to his own apartment. _Insisted_ Harry return to his own apartment. Niall had intervened at that point, taking over official babysitting duties when Zayn had had enough of Harry. 

Niall had let Harry wallow in his own filth for another day or two before eventually pouring a bucket of water over him. Harry had relented at that point, letting Niall force him into the tub and turn the faucet on. It had taken another few hours before Harry eventually agreed to wash without his clothes on. 

Niall had an infinite amount of patience and a permanent smile on his face for Harry, but it didn’t help (although he did manage to get Harry back onto tea). Harry was pretty sure the only thing that would help would be seeing Louis. 

It’s not like he hadn’t tried to see him, but every phone call went unanswered, and his texts rarely generated a response. When they did, it was usually a bland assurance that Louis was fine, or that he would talk to Harry later. Eventually Harry had tried to stake out Louis’ apartment, only to have Niall wrestle him out of the car and into Zayn’s. It had been humiliating, but made slightly better thanks to the absence of photographers. He wasn’t sure he’d have been able to live that one down if the press had got wind of it. 

Liam wasn’t answering his calls either, but Harry was’t afraid to play dirty with him. Not where Louis was concerned. 

Which is why he’d just stolen Zayn’s phone.

_“Zayn?”_

“No. It’s Harry.” 

Admittedly, using Liam’s little crush on Zayn wasn’t something Harry was exactly proud of, but what else was he supposed to do? It’s not his fault Liam would never ignore a call from Zayn. 

The silence on Liam’s end was punctuated only by the sound of his breathing, reassuring Harry that he hadn’t hung up. He was probably too busy thinking of ways he could murder Harry for this next time he saw him. 

Zayn glared at him across from the room, reminding Harry that he was not a willing participant in this charade. 

“How is he?”

Harry turned his back to Zayn, trying to create some sort of privacy. 

“Please, Li.” 

The silence dragged on for a few moments longer.

_“He’s good, Harry. Really. He’s good.”_

Harry felt his heart stutter in his chest. 

“Don’t lie to me.”

_“I’m not.”_

It was the gentle tone of Liam’s voice that convinced Harry he was telling the truth. It almost sounded like pity. 

Harry couldn’t reply at first. Louis was good. What did that even mean? It’s not as if Harry wanted Louis to be miserable, but the way they’d left things - the way Louis had kicked Harry out of his apartment, the tears in his eyes, the sob in his voice - Harry had thought Louis was as miserable as he was. Had taken comfort in it. 

What type of sick person did that make him?

“He’s good?”

_“Yeah, mate. He’s good. I don’t know what else to tell you.”_

“Oh.”

If Louis was good, that must be . . . good? 

Yeah. It was definitely good. He wouldn’t want Louis to be going through what he’d experienced over the last two weeks. And it was good to get confirmation that he was the only one with significant feelings in this whole mess. Good to know that Louis was more sensible than him. Good to know Louis wasn’t hurting.

Good. It was all good.

Liam was saying something, but Harry couldn’t focus enough to listen, let alone reply.

Zayn yanked the phone from Harry’s hand.

“Liam? Yeah, he’s still here. No, he’s really not doing too good.”

Harry wanted to deny that. Really, he did. But his absolute inability to even speak right now suggested Zayn was telling the truth. 

“Well, Niall got him to shower so we’ve made some progress.”

The moment Harry came back to himself he was definitely going to punch Zayn. 

“Yeah, alright. See you then.” 

The couch shifted as Zayn sunk down beside him.

“Liam’s coming over.”

“Why?” It had only been a few moments since Harry had last spoken, but already his voice sounded cracked and out of use. 

“To check on you, mate. He’s worried.”

Harry wasn’t sure at what point he hunched over, curling up into himself and resting his head on Zayn’s lap, but eventually there was a knock at the door and Zayn was slipping out from underneath him. Moments later Liam was at his side, taking over from Zayn and cradling Harry. 

He felt a kiss pressed to his head, Liam’s strong hands smoothing through the waves of his hair. 

“It’s alright, Haz. It’s alright.”

Fuck. He must have started crying again. 

“It’s not alright. It’s definitely not alright,” he managed. “Nothing’s alright.”

Usually Liam would sigh and call him melodramatic. Apparently Liam understood the situation was more serious than that. 

“I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner,” Liam murmured, leaning down to press another kiss to Harry’s brow. 

Harry wanted to say he’d rather Liam was looking after Louis, but apparently Louis didn’t need looking after.

Nobody said anything, but Harry was pretty sure they were all thinking he was the worst alpha ever. 

****

Summer in Britain was always hit and miss with the weather, so when the sun finally did decide to make an appearance Louis couldn’t bear to keep himself cooped up inside. 

It felt like the sun was reflecting his own good mood. After Harry had left he’d expected to collapse into a whole and die, but instead he’d taken a long shower, sobbed to his heart’s content, then promised himself he would cope.

And he had. Liam had eyed him suspiciously for a few days, hanging around his apartment for no good reason and generally just making sure Louis wasn’t about to burst into tears, but eventually he’d had to admit that Louis was okay. He’d even bought Louis a few ‘Unmated and Pregnant’ books in a show of support. Of course, the books were mostly filled with garbage and thinly veiled suggestions that an omega really shouldn’t go through pregnancy without an alpha, but Louis didn’t blame Liam for that. It wasn’t as if there was a wide selection of books for Liam to choose from. 

Lost in his thoughts, Louis didn’t notice the streak of blonde until a warm body hit his side, knocking him to the ground. 

“Louis!” 

Arms wrapped around him, holding him tight. He’d be more alarmed if the Irish brogue didn’t immediately identify his assailant. 

“Fuck, Niall. Get off you idiot!”

“Awh, shit, mate. I forgot.” His eyes dropped down briefly to Louis’ stomach as he scrambled to his feet and extended an arm to help Louis up. “You alright?”

“No thanks to you,” Louis bit out, the smile on his face reassuring Niall everything was actually okay. 

Niall beamed, falling into an easy swagger as he accompanied Louis down the street and away from his apartment.

“Where we heading?”

“ _I’m_ heading to the shops. I don’t know where you’re heading.”

“Wherever you go, Lou. It’s been too long since I last saw you.”

“Yeah, and whose fault is that?”

Louis wanted to take the words back as soon as he’d spoken. It was Harry’s fault. And his. While Louis had never been too involved with Harry’s celebrity lifestyle, he’d spent enough time with the band to count Niall and Zayn as actual friends. Things were more complicated now though. He hadn’t really spoken to Harry since ejecting him from his flat a few weeks ago. 

He’d heard nothing from Niall or Zayn since. 

“Well, we should fix that. I don’t want things to get all awkward and shit. Not with us.” He wrapped an arm around Louis, dragging him closer and pressing a sloppy kiss to the side of his face. 

Louis grimaced and wiped away the offending slobber. 

“Just ‘cause you and Harry are on the outs, doesn’t mean we should be.”

And there it was. Harry’s name. He felt like a knife had pierced his side. 

Niall saw the smile fall from Louis’ face.

“Shit. I don’t mean to make this awkward. That’s exactly what I don’t want. Yeah?”

“It’s not your fault.”

“Of course it isn’t. You two should have used a condom. But whatever. We’re still here for you, Lou.”

Louis felt his face flush. He wasn’t sure whether he wanted Niall to be there for him right now. Not when he was going to be so blunt. 

“Don’t you have some place else to be? A big celebrity like you surely has better things to do than go food shopping with me.”

“Not particularly. The band’s been taking it easy lately.”

Louis knew the band had scheduled down time, but it felt like a reminder that Harry would inevitably be lying low right now. 

Fuck. He really had to stop thinking of Harry. And, honestly, Niall was the perfect solution.

“Good. You can take me to lunch then.”

“You mean you’ll take me to some crappy posh place, order the most expensive thing on the menu, and then make me pay?”

And just like that, Louis felt any remnants of awkwardness fade away as they fell back into their old rhythm. 

“It’s not like you can’t afford it,” he said, leaning across to quickly press an equally sloppy kiss to Niall’s cheek, before tearing away down the street.

He heard a loud cackle, Niall’s joy spilling over, and then Niall was after him like a shot. 

****

Louis ended up back at Niall’s, his stomach bloated with the most expensive food he’d been able to find. Niall was sprawled on the floor, clutching at his stomach and slightly tipsy. The beta had made an initial gesture to forgo alcohol since Louis couldn’t drink, but he’d quickly capitulated as the afternoon wore on, buoyed by the unusual amount of British sun and exposure to Louis’ sarcasm. 

They’d eaten out on the terrace, gossiping about everyone who passed and sampling as many different items as possible. Louis suspected Niall knew he was using him to forget about his current situation, but was too kind to say anything. It had worked, though. Even when Niall had made vague references to ‘the band’ Louis found he hadn’t automatically thought of Harry. 

Eventually, they’d staggered out of the restaurant and into the car Niall had called, both leaning on each other for support. Niall had taken advantage of their proximity to press his wandering hands gently against Louis’ belly, as if he expected to feel a kick already, and idly suggested baby names like ‘Niall’, ‘Nialler’, or ‘Niallette’ if Louis wanted something more feminine. 

It was the first time Louis could remember laughing about being pregnant.

He hadn’t intended on returning to Niall’s, but he was happy. He didn’t want the day to end.

It had been hard, lately. None of his friends outside Liam and the band had ever known about his relationship with Harry, so it wasn’t as if he’d exactly had anyone to talk to about this. And even if he didn’t want to talk to them about it, he was sure they’d start picking up on the change in his scent soon enough, which was also the reason he’d been ducking his family. He was pretty sure they’d been waiting for him and Harry to mate since they were teenagers. Finding out Louis was pregnant with Harry’s child would only send them into overdrive.

He meant to tell them, but doing it over the phone seemed so inadequate. Letting them smell it on him was not how he wanted them to discover it either. Whatever. He’d figure it out. 

So back to Niall’s he’d gone, collapsing on the couch and casually pretending not to notice Harry’s scent was all over it. 

Niall saw straight through him, though.

“Sorry about that,” he murmured, his words only slightly soft round the edges, not quite slurring. “Harry was here for a week or so. Took me days to shift him off that couch.”

“Is he okay?”

And dammit, Louis really hadn’t meant to ask. But he also really wanted to know.

“He’s complete shit, mate. Absolutely ruined.” 

Louis felt his heart sink like a stone.

“What?”

“Didn’t Liam tell you?” Niall asked, rolling onto his stomach so he could look at Louis properly.

Louis knew Liam had been seeing Harry, had smelt the alpha’s familiar scent on his friend, but they’d tactfully avoiding talking about it.

Louis shook his head. 

“I thought he’d be doing alright.”

Niall let out a harsh laugh.

“On what planet? Harry’s fucking devastated.”

“But - why?” 

Louis felt drunk. Confused and hazy. Why the fuck was Harry devastated?

Another harsh laugh from Niall brought him back to the conversation.

“You broke his heart. How else did you think he’d react?” 

“I broke his heart?”

Niall sighed heavily and rolled over again. 

“I’m too tired for this talk, Lou. You know he loves you.”

“Did he tell you that?”

“It’s all he’s said for the last week. I can even smell the fucking heartbreak coming off him, and you know my nose is shite.”

Louis sank back further into the couch, unconsciously submerging himself in Harry’s scent. 

“Awh, fuck.” Niall dragged himself up and beside Louis, groaning slightly as he clutched his full belly. “Don’t look like that.”

“How the hell am I supposed to look, Niall? You just told me - you just told me . . .” 

“I told you something I really shouldn’t have. It wasn’t my place.” 

“I thought . . .”

Louis trailed off again, remembering the way Harry had got down on one knee. The question he hadn’t asked. The question Louis only thought he’d been about to ask out of a sense of duty, rather than because of any ounce of love. 

“Fuck.”

“I know,” Niall murmured, petting clumsily at Louis’ messing hair. “I know.” 

“What do I do now?”

“You fucking talk to him, you idiot. But not now. We’ve got 'Game of Thrones' to marathon. Talk to him tomorrow.”

Louis wanted to argue with Niall, but the beta was right. If Louis rang him now he’d probably just cry. He didn’t want to be one of those omegas. He'd rather let a stupid TV show numb out the horrendous news that Harry Styles was in love with him than face up to the fact that something he'd wanted for so long was coming true, right when he didn't want it anymore.

***

Something irritating was disturbing Louis’ sleep. Something loud.

Louis cracked open his eyes and glared across the room. There, on the marble countertop, was Niall’s phone. It was vibrating frantically, as if it’s sole goal was to wake Louis up. 

Louis was about to shove the heavy weight of Niall off him and cuss him out for his bloody phone, when he noticed his own phone was buzzing away on the carpet.

He reached down and fished it off the floor, wiping the sleep from his eyes. 

There were 49 missed calls and more texts than he cared to look at.

What the fuck could be so important?

He opened the first of the long list of texts.

**Fizzy**  
_wtf is this_

Seven different links accompanied his sister’s text. 

He clicked on the first one.

“Oh fuck.”


	4. Chapter 4

Niall wouldn’t stop cackling. 

“ _1D Heartthrob Spotted On Date!!_ ” had greeted Louis when he’d clicked on the first link from his sister, taking him to a Daily Mail page. The photo underneath had shown Louis and Niall out at lunch. It looked as if Niall was reaching across the table to feed Louis, when in reality he’d been about to try and smear food all over him. 

Further down the page was Niall’s sloppy cheek kiss, followed by the kiss Louis gave Niall. Most damningly of all was a photo of the two of them sprawled on the floor. It looked far more intimate than it actually had been.

Louis had been hoping for some sympathetic understanding when he’d woken Niall, some commiseration, but Niall had seriously let him down.

Louis couldn’t figure out what Niall found so funny. The idiot hadn’t stopped laughing since he’d seen the first article.

“Were they stalking us?” Louis snapped. Niall shrugged, unable to wipe the grin off his face.

“It was probably someone being opportunistic, following me to yours. It happens.”

“It happens? That’s all you can say?” Louis was aware his voice had shot up a few octaves and was definitely verging on shrill, but it had not been a good morning. He was allowed to panic. 

“Calm down, Lou. Really, it’s no big deal.”

“And I quote _‘The two were clearly enjoying a romantic date. They couldn’t stop touching. I could smell the omega’s pregnancy a mile off. Maybe they were celebrating.’_ Does that sound like no big deal?”

Niall looked at him blankly.

“The fucking Daily Mail just outed my bloody pregnancy. My _mum_ found out from a bloody tabloid!” 

Niall’s face fell. 

“Shit.”

“Understatement of the year.”

“You hadn’t told her?”

“Clearly not!” Louis said, waving his phone and it’s many missed calls in front of Niall. “It’s not the kind of thing you can just mention over the phone.”

Niall had the decency to show a bit of sympathy then, flopping down beside Louis and swinging an arm around his waist.

“How did she take it?”

“I can’t tell. Her voicemail seems to suggest she’s furious that she had to find out this way, rather than the fact that I’m actually pregnant. But who knows. Once she’s calmed down from the surprise, she’ll probably yell at me for getting knocked up too.”

Niall’s arm tightened around his waist in a further show of sympathy, but otherwise they fell silent. 

Louis was too filled with dread to continue talking. He’d told Harry he wouldn’t go to the press. That he didn’t want this type of publicity. Sure, it’s not as if anyone suspected it was Harry’s child, but he hadn’t wanted any attention. All he needed was for someone to start looking into him, to realise he was the omega often seen backstage with the band, or hanging out on tour with Harry, and rumours would start flying. He didn’t want anything to jeopardise the life Harry had. He wanted to stay as far away from the limelight as possible. That was the plan. That had been his plan from the moment he’d found out he was pregnant. How had he already ended up in the bloody papers?

Niall’s phone started vibrating again, but Niall didn’t shift from his position on the couch. 

“Don’t you need to get that?”

“Not particularly. It’s either my management calling to yell at me or Harry calling to yell at me.”

Louis groaned. He needed this couch to swallow him up right now. 

“I’m not sure which is worse.”

“Me neither,” Niall muttered. 

His phone fell silent, whoever was on the other end giving up. 

A beat later it started again. Niall groaned this time. 

“We probably need to deal with this. Either that or I break my phone.”

“How exactly do we deal with it? It’s not like we can delete the bloody Daily Mail.”

“Well, feckin’ funny as this is and all, the sooner we get on top of this the better. My team will issue a denial soon as they’ve spoken to me. They’ll probably send me out on a few ‘are they/aren’t they’ photo ops with some up and coming celebs at a couple of nightclubs, and then the whole thing’ll blow over quick enough.”

Louis had been around the band long enough to know that ‘scandals’ like this were dealt with by misdirection, but he’d never been at the centre of one before. It felt shameful, somehow. Like he was something that needed to be hidden away and forgotten as quickly as possible.

He didn’t know why that made him feel so sad. Surely that was what he wanted? He wanted to be forgotten, so that Harry would be safe. Yet, at the same time, there was a small part of him that wanted something else. He didn’t know what, though. He just felt uncomfortable in his own skin. 

Niall seemed to pick up on his mood, pulling him up with his usual grin back on his face, and ushering him into the bathroom, leaving him with a selection of plush towels and more hair care products than Louis knew what to do with. Clearly Louis was not made for the celebrity life. 

He stepped into the shower and let the water beat down on him. He turned the heat up until it was almost scalding. 

He wanted Harry. He wanted to wrap himself in Harry’s arms and cry. He wanted Harry to tell him that everything would be okay, that his family would forgive him for finding out this way, that together they’d make it through. He wanted Harry so badly he ached with it. But he couldn’t have Harry. Especially not now. He needed to keep him safe. 

****

“Oh, man, you really need to listen to this one from Harry, Lou. It’s hilarious.”

Louis rolled his eyes, pulling at his damp hair in the mirror. He probably needed a haircut. The photo in the paper hadn’t been exactly flattering. 

“No thanks,” he muttered, trying to do something with his fringe. He could vaguely hear Harry’s voice, tinny through the phone, as Niall replayed the voicemail for the fifth time in a row. He was still trying not to think of Harry. He was failing miserably, but at least he was trying. 

_Harry_. Harry who loved him. Fuck. What was he supposed to do with this information right now? Last night he thought he’d wake up knowing exactly what to do, exactly how to tell the boy he’d been pining over for far too long that no, actually, he didn’t love him back. But that had been before he’d woken up to the fucking Daily Mail. Before he’d let the shower water scald him in a stupid attempt to numb himself. Before he’d let the shower wash away his tears as he’d let his agony pour out. 

“He keeps threatening to cut my balls off,” Niall cackled from the other side of the room.

“He actually believes we’re dating?”

“No. He’s worried I hurt the baby when I knocked you over.” Niall pauses then. “I didn’t, right?”

“No. We’re fine.” 

Louis’ hands drop reflexively to his stomach. That was the first time he’d referred to himself and the baby as ‘we’. It felt incredibly unnatural. 

“Good. You might try telling Harry that. I’m not sure my inbox has much more room for his threats.”

Louis sighed, but pulled out his phone anyway, taking the time to write each word perfectly in an effort to distract from the fact that he was contacting Harry. He really didn’t want to. Actually, that was a lie. There was nothing more he wanted to do, but he didn’t trust himself not to tell Harry how much he wanted to talk to him, how much he needed to see him. How much he loved him, even though he knew he shouldn’t. 

**Louis**  
_The baby’s fine. Don’t worry._

Harry’s response was instantaneous.

**Harry**  
_And you?_

His phone felt like a ticking time bomb, a heavy weight in his hand. The same antsy, uncomfortable feeling that had been running underneath his skin for a while now flared up. Some part of him was sure that Harry was the only one who could settle him, who could look at him and understand exactly how he was feeling. 

But he couldn’t tell Harry that. 

**Louis**  
_Fine too. Not even bruised._

Well, maybe his butt was a little bruised, but Harry didn’t need to know that. He’d probably start threatening Niall again. 

**Harry**  
_That’s not what I meant._

A beat went by, another text arriving quickly. 

**Harry**  
_I’m sorry they photographed you. I’m sorry you were caught up in this. You deserve better._

Louis didn’t know what to say. He didn’t know what Harry wanted. Niall’s words from yesterday were ringing in his head and all he could think was that Harry loved him. Harry loved him and wanted to be with him and his family knew he was pregnant and Niall was about to be paraded around for photographers in an effort to distract from Louis and everything was just too much. Louis felt the need to tear his skin off, his thoughts buzzing uncomfortably loud, everything too chaotic. 

He just really wanted to talk to Harry. 

He switched his phone off. He’d done what Niall asked. Harry knew both he and the baby were fine. He had other things to face up to now. Like telling his mum Harry was the father of his baby. 

****

Harry was waiting for Niall the moment he stepped into the lobby.

“Hazza, what a surprise!” Niall dragged Harry into a hug, his sarcasm thick and heavy. 

Zayn watched from a seat nearby, one eyebrow perfectly arched. 

“And Zayn, too,” Niall continued. “My best mates here too support me, yeah?”

“Yeah,” Zayn drawled. “I’m pretty sure being told to go out and get papped with the most beautiful women around is going to be such a hardship for you.”

“It’s a bullet I’ll gladly take for the team,” Niall beamed back. “Or for Louis. However you want to look at it.”

“How is he?” Harry asked, oddly grave. 

Niall shrugged.

“Off to see him mum and sisters. Apparently he hadn’t told them yet. They’re not too pleased.”

“He shouldn’t have to do that alone.” 

“He’s not. Liam’s going with him.”

Niall saw a flare of jealousy appear on Harry’s face at that, before the alpha managed to get it under control. Niall knew it was simply Harry’s alpha instincts coming through, the idea of someone else being able to take care of his mate and child when Harry could not, but it still surprised him to see it. Usually Harry barely registered as an alpha, his ruts the only thing really confirming it. 

Zayn didn’t let the conversation continue, grabbing Harry by the hand and placing a hand on Niall’s back, ushering them all into the lift.

“That isn’t the right floor,” Niall pointed out as Zayn jabbed a button for one of the lower levels. 

“We can be late. We need to discuss something first.” 

They rode in silence. Harry clutched his phone tightly, glancing at it hopefully when he thought no one was looking. Probably hoping for a message from Louis, Niall figured. 

Stepping out of the lift, Zayn quickly herded them into a small empty meeting room. He shut the door behind them, keeping the lights off, the only light coming from the windows. Considering the windows were floor to ceiling, the light was quite considerable.

“Harry wants to tell them it’s his baby.”

Niall tried not to look surprised. He failed miserably.

“You what?” he asked, looking directly at Harry. It took Harry a moment to meet his gaze. “Management, or the press?”

“I’d tell the whole world if I could,” Harry chuckled bitterly. “But Louis doesn’t want that. So just management for now.”

Niall nodded slowly. 

“And you think Louis’ll be okay with that?”

Niall noticed the tell-tale jut of Harry’s chin that suggested he was about to be stubborn.

“It’s the right thing to do. If I don’t tell them, they might decide to smear Louis’ reputation, in some sort of attempt to protect the band.”

Niall rolled his eyes.

“It’s highly unlikely they’d decide to smear a pregnant omega. That’s public suicide, that.”

“But he’s unmated,” Zayn chipped in. “If anyone picks up on that, it’d be easy to suggest you’ve been a love rat or something. Knocked him up then ditched him for a string of beauties.”

“I don’t care if they say that. It’s not the truth.”

“Yeah, but you know Simon would go nuclear. The moment he thinks our image is in danger he’d drag Louis’ name through the mud. If Harry makes it clear from the start that that’s not an option then they can start planning on how else they can handle the fallout.”

Harry nodded his agreement with Zayn’s words, his eyes holding the same empty look they’d had since Louis had kicked him out. 

“Alright. Fuck. I can’t wait to see their faces.” 

****

Louis was all cried out. That’s the only way he could explain it. 

His mum had wrapped him in a thousand hugs and cried with him all afternoon. She’d let him cry about scared he was, about how he’d imagined this so differently. He’d seen the disappointment in her eyes when he’d told her he and Harry weren’t an item, before it was immediately replaced with a look of resolve. She’d promised him she’d be there every step of the way, and had immediately started looking for places to live close to Louis’ flat so she could better support him. He’d tried to talk her out of it, pointing out she had the twins and everyone else to look after, but she wouldn’t hear of it. Family sticks together.

That’s what had tipped Louis over the edge. Family. Yes, his mum and his sisters and his step-dad were family. Of course they were. But he’d also grown up with Liam and Harry, believing with every part of himself that they were family too. So where was Harry? 

Louis couldn’t even be mad at Harry for not being there right now. He was the one who had kicked Harry out. He was the one keeping him at arm’s length. He hadn’t even told Harry he was going to tell him mum today. Harry would have offered to go with him in an instant even he’d known. 

Liam had kept up a steady course of conversation on the way back to London, determined not to let Louis dwell. Louis had dwelled, of course. He’d make the mistake of turning his phone back on as they left Doncaster. 

A text from Harry had been waiting for him.

 **Harry**  
  _I miss you._

It was so simple and yet it broke Louis’ heart. This was the longest they’d ever been out of constant communication. He’d gone longer without seeing Harry, when Harry was on tour and they just couldn’t make the time, but they’d always text and Skyped and emailed. 

It took Louis almost everything to avoid calling Harry up right then. 

He went back to Liam’s afterward, not trusting himself to be alone. They ate takeout and drank soda, Liam valiantly pretending he liked it as much as his usual beer. 

But _I miss you_ lingered. I miss you, I miss you. He felt it thrum through his body with every beat of his heart. It made him restless. It echoed in his mind. _I miss you._ A constant reminder.

He stayed to the end of the movie Liam had found for them, not really taking any of it in. He was aware Liam was watching him with overly sympathetic eyes, but he knew Liam would chalk any oddness in Louis up to his emotional afternoon with his family. He didn’t know about the three little words that had tipped Louis over the edge.

_I miss you._

Liam had offered to drop him back at his place, but Louis had chosen to walk. He’d spotted the lone photographer lingering nearby as he’d approached his home, and found his feet were already taking him in another direction. He didn’t think he’d really ever planned on going home tonight. 

It was all the crying that had done it. It had left him tired and vulnerable. He always made his worst decisions then. 

That’s why he was at Harry’s door, his heart in his mouth, feeling like he might vomit. 

He wanted to leave but it was too late. The door was swinging open and there he was. _Harry._

“Louis?”

Louis felt all his defences crumble in that single word, the sound of Harry’s voice soothing him like no other. 

He was only partially aware of the way he crumpled forward, but he didn’t miss how Harry’s arms were already open to receive him, how he clutched Louis against his warm body and whispered his name again and again. He didn’t miss the soft kisses pressed into his hair, against his forehead and down his cheeks. 

He knew he’d never forget the look in Harry’s eyes when Louis had leaned up and murmured his name, before pressing their lips together. 

He was pretty sure he’d never forget this kiss for as long as he lived.


	5. Chapter 5

Louis was here. Louis was here, looking wrecked and vulnerable, and all Harry wanted to do was protect him. To wrap him up in a thousand kisses and protect him from whatever had made him look that way. 

Louis sank into him, the tension releasing from his body as Harry’s arms wrapped around him. Harry couldn’t help but kiss him, each kiss a silent _I love you_ or _I miss you_. 

A part of him had stopped believing he’d ever get to hold Louis like this again. 

He thought he might die from happiness.

Then Louis kissed him and he knew he would. He was pretty sure his soul had already left his body. His heart would probably stop beating in the next few seconds. Better savour every moment of this kiss then.

Harry surged into Louis, his hands reaching to cup his face and pull the man tighter against him. Louis whimpered against Harry’s lips, returning the kiss with equal fervour. His hands tangled in Harry’s hair before dropping down to his waist, slipping under his shirt and coming to rest on the smooth planes of his stomach.

Harry was ready to combust right then. He had been starved of Louis for far, far too long. 

Harry was afraid to stop the kiss, afraid he’d wake up to find he was dreaming. Instead, he let Louis carefully steer him inside, the door swinging shut behind them and blocking out the ordinary world. 

The hush of Harry’s home made everything a thousand times more intimate. Each press of Louis’ lips, each soft little whimper, sent Harry reeling. 

Louis was _here_ and Harry never wanted him to leave.

Harry’s mouth stilled part way along Louis’ jawline. Was Louis here to stay? Had he changed his mind? 

“Lou,” Harry managed, voice trembling as Louis’ mouth didn’t let up, pressing against every inch of Harry’s available skin. “Lou,” he tried again, shuddering as Louis’ teeth nipped against his neck. “What’s happening here?”

That made Louis stop. Harry’s libido vehemently wanted to know why Harry would do anything to make Louis stop. They were so good together. So perfect. 

“Are you alright?” He took a closer look at Louis, at his swollen lips and flushed cheeks, up to his tear-shot eyes. “What happened?”

Louis hesitated, his eyes seeming to drink Harry in. Then he shook his head. 

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He leaned back in, pressing another feverish kiss to Harry’s lips. 

For a moment, Harry let himself fall into the kiss and  pretended that everything was okay. Then his hands slipped down to Louis’ hips, his fingers brushing over a slight curve he wasn’t sure was real or imagined, and he knew they had to talk . As much as he didn’t want to stop this, he couldn’t forget the haunted look in Louis’ eyes as he’d stood before Harry’s door. 

Even though he could feel every cell in his body revolting, Harry managed to disentangle himself from Louis. 

“We need to talk.”

The words seemed silly and insubstantial. They needed to do so much more than talk. They needed to fix this in every way, but, for now, talking seemed like a good start. 

Louis let out a small whine, but Harry dropped down onto his old couch - the one he knew Louis thought was hideous - and pulled Louis down beside him. 

He let Louis snuggle in against his side as if nothing had changed, then drew him into a chaste kiss. Something to tide them over for now. Louis chased his lips as he drew away, but Harry was determined to see this through. He wasn’t about to mess this up again. 

“What’s wrong?” he asked, smoothing back some of Louis’ unruly hair. He caught Louis watching his movement, his eyes wide, and he offered a tentative smile. 

And just like that, Louis' eyes filled with tears. 

“I missed you.” It sounded like the words were being torn out of him. 

“I missed you too, love,” Harry replied, pressing another gentle kiss to Louis’s forehead. He’d forgotten how much he loved to kiss Louis. The simple show of affection always swelled his heart. 

A sob burst from Louis, and he buried his head against Harry’s side. Harry trailed his fingers along Louis’ back, soothing him, waiting for him to continue. 

“I went home today. To see my mum. And everything was fine. They were all great, and so supportive. But afterward I couldn’t stop thinking that you should have been there.” He clutched tightly to Harry, as if reassuring himself that the alpha was actually there. 

Harry didn’t know what to say. He would have dropped everything to be there, if Louis had only asked. 

“You’re _family_ , Harry. You always have been. I always thought if anything like this happened, you’d be at my side.” 

Harry’s heart jumped into his throat. Was this Louis telling him he’d always wanted to be with him? 

“I’m here,” Harry murmured against Louis’ skin, pressing himself firmly against the other man. “I’ll always be here.”

“I didn’t realise how much I missed you until you weren’t there. How badly I needed you.” Louis laughs, more of a choked sound than anything else. “I’m such a fucking mess.”

Harry continued to soothe Louis, smoothing his hair and pressing light kisses wherever he could reach. 

“If I’d known,” Harry started, before breaking off. “Liam told me you were okay. That you were doing well. If  I’d known you needed me . . .” Harry could hear the quaver in his voice now, his emotions creeping through. “I would have been there. I was staying away because I thought’s that what you wanted.”

“It was what I wanted. It _is_ ,” Louis snapped. 

Harry felt like all the air had just disappeared from his lungs. 

“Or it’s what I should want,” Louis finished a little more quietly, burying back into Harry’s shirt with a wet snuffle. 

“I don’t understand.” 

“Neither do I. I thought I was okay. I felt okay. But then Niall, he said . . .” 

Louis’ words became incomprehensible as he buried further into Harry’s side in an attempt to avoid looking him in the eye.

“What did Niall say?”

Louis wouldn’t emerge from where he’d burrowed. 

“What did he say, Lou?” Harry asked again, trying to coax Louis into looking at him.

Louis didn’t react at first. His breathing was uneven and ragged, occasionally interrupted by a slight hiccup as a fresh bout of quiet tears arrived. Harry didn’t push again, letting Louis take his time. He reached for Louis’ hand though, encasing it in his own, trying to show Louis that he wasn’t alone. Whatever Niall had said to upset him, to confuse him, would be okay. 

“He said you loved me.” 

The words were so quiet, Harry almost missed them. 

Slowly, Louis emerged from Harry’s side. He didn’t let go of Harry’s hand. His eyes were wide, searching for the answer. 

“I do.” 

Harry had never meant two words so sincerely. 

They’d been so easy to say. All this time he’d worried about telling Louis how he felt, and then Niall bloody beat him to it. He’d have to thump him one next time he saw him. And yet, he felt light. 

He loved Louis, and now Louis knew. 

“Fuck.”

Louis’ face crumpled, followed by a bitter laugh. 

That was not the reaction Harry was expecting. At least Louis didn’t pull away. Instead, his hand gripped back tighter. 

“Fuck, fuck, fuck.” 

“What?”

Louis laughed again, his eyes wild, before surging forward in a desperate kiss. 

Harry sunk into it, letting Louis’ mouth claim him.

“I shouldn’t want you,” Louis gasped, breaking apart from the kiss for a moment. “I keep telling myself - I keep trying not to feel this way. But I can’t.” 

Harry’s mind was reeling. Louis sounded so broken. What did this all mean?

“Then don’t.”

Harry pulled Louis firmly against him, eliciting another whimper from the omega. He slid down against the couch, pulling Louis on top of him, until all the omega’s weight was pressing down on him. He couldn’t help the groan that slipped from his mouth. 

Louis’ kisses gained in pace, growing more frantic. They were both hard, and the smell of slick was filling the room. His hands roamed across Harry’s body and it was all so familiar and yet so new. The usual impatience was there as Louis rocked against Harry, desperately searching for friction, as if he could never get enough. But now when Harry’s hands came to hold Louis’ waist, to help him find the friction he craved, it was with the knowledge that just beneath his hands their baby was growing.

Fuck.

Harry rutted against Louis, the thought of their baby triggering an alpha impulse he hadn’t been aware he had. He moaned, pulling Louis closer to nuzzle at his neck, to scrape his teeth across the delicate skin he so desperately wanted to bite. 

Instead, he sucked the skin into his mouth, bruising it, marking Louis as his once more. It had been too long since he’d done this. His old marks had faded away, as if Harry had never been there. 

Louis bucked against him hard and Harry was pretty sure he could come right there. But that’s not how he wanted this to be. Sure, they’d fucked all over the place in the past, but this was different. This was them starting their lives together. He wanted to do this right.

“Bedroom,” he managed to murmur. Louis whined, shaking his head as his hands tried to strip Harry of his shirt. 

Harry let him, the shirt falling softly to the floor, before he managed to to shift Louis to the side, slipping out from underneath him and then scooping him into his arms.

Louis immediately wrapped his legs around Harry’s waist, letting Harry feel the hard line of his cock pressing against his stomach.

Louis was going to be the death of him. 

They staggered into the bedroom with only a few detours to press against walls and rut against each other, Louis leaving his own series of love bites along Harry’s collarbone. 

“I want you so bad,” Harry murmured, laying Louis out on the bed before him. He wasn’t even undressed yet but Harry thought he’d never seen anyone sexier. 

He crawled onto the bed, Louis caged between his arms and legs, before drawing him into another kiss. He didn’t let it last too long, drawing back to kneel over him and slowly push Louis’ shirt up, revealing the soft curves of the man he loved so much. If his hands lingered on the slight swell of Louis’ stomach, well, nobody had to know. 

He pressed a gentle trail of kisses up Louis’ stomach and between his chest as he dragged the t-shirt up and off, before returning for another heated kiss against Louis’ mouth.

“I promise I’ll make you so happy, Lou.” 

Louis didn’t reply, his hands gripping Harry tighter as if he’d never let go.

Harry’s hands reached for Louis’ waistband, his fingers skimming lightly against the bulge waiting beneath the fabric. He hesitated as he fumbled with the zipper. 

He’d done this a thousand times with Louis, but right now it all felt so brand new. 

He wavered for a moment, before Louis’ hands swept down to encase Harry’s with his own. 

Harry smiled, meeting Louis’ gaze. There was nothing to be nervous about. This was Louis, for God’s sake. Whatever happened, they’d be okay together.

Louis’ cock was shiny with pre-cum and as beautiful as Harry remembered. He pressed a palm against himself, hissing slightly, wanting to get his hands all over Louis. 

The smell of Louis’ slick was heavy in the air. Harry couldn’t resist slipping his hands between Louis’ legs and gently teasing, drawing plaintive whimpers and moans from his omega. 

Louis shivered beneath him as he circled his hole, silently begging Harry for more. Harry had forgotten how responsive Louis could be, how the slightest brush of Harry's finger against his entrance could leave him shuddering for more. 

Harry slipped a long finger inside, Louis’ warmth enveloping him instantly. Already Louis could easily take him, but Harry didn’t want to rush this. He wanted this to be good for both of them.

The stream of little pants and moans emitting from Louis suggested Harry was succeeding.

“More,” Louis moaned, reaching for Harry’s cock. “I need more, Harry.”

If Harry didn’t know him so well he might give in, but he knew how much Louis liked to feel Harry’s fingers moving within him. He didn’t alter his pace, adding another finger, and another, gently curling his fingers upwards to catch inside of Louis, until the omega was a sobbing, writhing mess.

“Please,” Louis cried. “Please.”

His fingers scrabbled against Harry’s skin, dragging him closer, leaving marks across his back. Harry loved when Louis was like this. Wild and desperate. He revelled in the way Louis’ love bites morphed from gentle sucks against his skin to sharp little bites as the omega became more frantic.

“I want you. I always want you,” Louis said, before placing another piercing bite against Harry’s skin. It was close to the base of Harry’s neck, almost close enough to be a mating mark.

Harry’s cock throbbed at the thought. He wanted Louis to bite him, and to bite Louis in return. He wanted everyone to know that they belonged to each other. 

He palmed himself, trying to steady himself against the stream of  graphic imagery depicting exactly what he’d like to do to Louis, especially if they were mated.

He groaned again, long and loud, his dick rubbing up against Louis’ leg. He desperately wanted more.

The bed was a mess already, a mixture of slick and pre-cum, Harry’s dick shiny with it, hanging thick between his legs. It was about to get a whole lot messier. 

“Are you ready?”

“Of course I’m fucking ready,” Louis snapped, his hips snapping up, desperate for friction. 

Harry smirked. Louis was always so impatient in bed. 

“Okay, babe,” he murmured, allowing himself another kiss before positioning his cock and pushing inside. 

They both moaned as Harry gently fucked into Louis. It was so hot, so tight. So perfect. 

“You feel so good.” Harry always told Louis he felt good, but that’s because it was always true. He’d never been with anyone else who could make him feel this way. 

“And you’re so fuckin’ wet,” he continued. “Wet for me.”

Louis whimpered as Harry thrust back into him, a garbled ‘yes’ slipping from his lips.

“I’m going to get you so messy, Lou. I’m going to fill you up and let it leak out of you, and then I’m going to clean you up with my tongue.” 

Another incomprehensible whimper slipped past Louis’ lips. His whole body quivered beneath Harry, each little moan going straight to Harry’s dick. 

Harry found his hands drifting down to Louis’ belly, reflexively feeling for the sort curve he still wasn’t sure was real or imagined. 

“Would you like that? Do you want me to take care of you?”

Louis nodded frantically as Harry finally fisted his flushed and leaking dick, pumping it firmly, relentlessly, as he continued to thrust into him at a measured pace. 

Then Louis was pulling Harry into a sloppy kiss, nipping at his lip and whining into his mouth. Harry didn’t want to ever stop kissing him. He could think of no better use for his mouth. 

“I want you so much, babe. I need you.” 

“Yeah?” Louis finally managed, breathing the words into Harry’s mouth.

“Always. I want to take care of you. Be with you. Would you like that?”

Louis’ eyes were shiny with unshed tears, but he nodded.

“Yeah,” he croaked.

“We’re going to have a baby,” Harry murmured, his thrusts slowing as he ran a hand along Louis’ belly. “We’re going to have a baby.”

“I know,” Louis choked, a solitary tear rolling from his eye.

Harry kissed it away.

“Why are you crying?”

“Because I’m so happy.”

Harry felt like his heart could burst from his chest. Louis was happy. His omega was happy. 

He’d told Louis he loved him and the world hadn’t ended. They were going to be together now. They were going to raise their kid. 

They would be a family. 

Louis arched his back as Harry pressed deep inside him, fucking faster and faster, chasing the edge he knew was approaching.

Louis was _happy_. He’d made him happy. 

“We’re going to be so good, Lou. So good.” 

Harry fingered Louis’ cock, running his hands along the shaft and pressing sharply against the slit, pulling as many incomprehensible moans and whines from the omega as he could. 

He could feel his knot growing, each thrust in and out of Louis a little tighter than before. 

“Fuck,” Louis cried, Harry finding exactly the right angle to move against his spot again and again. Tears were filling his eyes, a sure sign that he was close, that things were becoming too intense to keep on going. 

“Tell me you’re close, babe. I’m so close. I’m gonna fill you up. Yeah? You feel so good, so tight. Want you to come all over me. Get me sticky and wet. Yeah? Make me yours.”

Harry was babbling now, mouthing against Louis’ sweat-slicked skin, fucking hard as his orgasm danced just out of reach, his knot swelling up even further.

Louis gasped, stilling for one torturous moment before he started coming, spilling hot against Harry’s hand and onto his belly.

Harry came then, the feel of Louis’ come and the sounds he was making pushing him over the edge. 

His knot locked him in place as he came, biting down against Louis’ shoulder to muffle his strangled moans. 

He could feel each throb of his cock inside Louis, hot come filling him up in a blissful rush of heat and energy, his alpha instincts glowing at the thought that his omega was already pregnant. 

They came to a sweaty, sticky halt as Harry continued to spill into Louis, exchanging soft kisses as Harry’s hand traced Louis’ softening cock, running his fingers through the cooling come and smearing it against his own skin. He wanted everyone to know that he belonged to Louis, to smell the gorgeous omega against his skin. To know that Louis had chosen Harry above everyone else. 

“I love you,” Harry said, pressing the words into Louis’ skin with his kisses. 

Louis didn’t reply, shivering gently as Harry unloaded another spurt of come. 

“I love you, and I’m going to take care of us. We’re going to be okay.” 

Louis still didn’t reply, his eyes closing and his body growing lax as he drifted closer to sleep. He reached for Harry’s hand before sleep claimed him though, linking their fingers together. 

A tiny gesture, but it made Harry’s heart sore.

****

The bed was empty when Harry woke, the sounds of the shower reassuring him that Louis was nearby. He stretched, luxuriating in the warm glow of contentment that was currently filling his bones.

They were going to be okay. 

Yesterday morning it had all seemed so impossible. He’d walked out of their management meeting full of dread, Zayn and Niall watching him as if they expected him to self-destruct.

But now. Now Louis was here. 

They were going to be okay.

The shower switched off. Moments later Louis emerged, a towel slung low around his hips, accentuating the soft curves of his body. 

“Hey, babe,” Harry murmured, his eyes taking in the gleaming expanse of Louis’ wet skin. Purple marks littered his chest, evidence of Harry’s attentions the previous evening. “You should have woken me. I’d have washed up with you.”

“You’d have just made me dirty again,” Louis said. “And I actually wanted to be clean.” 

Harry couldn’t help the laugh that burst from his chest. He was just so happy. 

“Shower up,” Louis added, helping himself to Harry’s clean clothes. “I’ll start on breakfast.”

God, Harry needed to stop smiling sometime soon. His jaw was actually aching. 

He rolled out of bed, not bothering to cover himself. He smirked as he caught Louis giving him an appreciative glance, cataloguing the marks he’d left on Harry's body. 

“See something you like?”

Louis blushed, turning back to Harry’s closet. 

“I’m not going to dignify that with an answer.”

Then Louis dropped his towel to slip into a pair of Harry’s joggers. Now Harry could definitely see something he liked. His hands itched to touch. 

“Don’t even think about it,” Louis said, his back still to Harry. 

“How did you know?” Harry asked as Louis turned back to him, the joggers shamefully covering up his beautiful body. 

“Because I know you.” 

The words were simple, soft, and yet they meant everything. 

Harry was pretty sure he’d never stop smiling. 

They were going to be okay. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd enjoy the good times while you can, people. Things are definitely not okay. 
> 
> :p


	6. Chapter 6

They hadn’t left his apartment for two days, much to Harry’s delight. His skin was littered with Louis’ marks, bruises and bites and lips chapped from the kisses they’d shared. It would have been perfect, if only Louis would just talk to him. 

Louis hadn’t clammed up. Quite the opposite, really. He constantly chattered away, taking charge and ordering Harry around the apartment. Harry loved it, really. Loved Louis taking charge like he used to, before the pregnancy had changed their dynamic. But Louis wouldn’t talk about them, and that was a problem. A big fucking problem. 

“Louis,” Harry murmured, nosing along tanned skin. “Louis.”

“No.” Louis rolled over and buried further under the covers.

“Come on. It’s noon.” 

“And?”

“And I thought we could go out.”

The lump under the covers that was Louis didn’t move. Harry prodded his side. 

“Come on,” Harry tried again. “We can’t spend all day in bed.”

“Why not?” Louis asked, pushing the covers back to reveal his naked body. “You weren’t complaining before.”

Louis craned his head to look at Harry. He arched an eyebrow, almost daring Harry to resist. 

Harrys hands were already moving, skimming along Louis’ legs and up to his thighs, pausing briefly before cupping his ass. 

“I’m not complaining.” He leant forward, pressing kisses along Louis’ thighs. “I just want to take you out. Show you off. And then we come back to bed. And then we _come_.”

His kisses became wetter, sloppier, as his mouth brushed against Louis’ ass. He spread Louis’ cheeks, his tongue dipping down to his hole. 

Louis barely suppressed his whimper. He didn’t want to talk. He wanted Harry between his thighs, moaning his name.

“Doesn’t that sound good?” Harry’s tongue dipped down again, coaxing a moan from Louis. “We don’t even have to shower. I want everyone to know I smell like you. I want them to know what we’ve been doing.”

“That sounds disgusting. I’d never - _fuck_.” 

Harry smirked, Louis’ next few words made incomprehensible by the stream of moans and occasional curses Harry was coaxing out of him.

“You taste delicious.” Harry dipped back down to lick between Louis’ cheeks, lapping happily as slick began to course down Louis’ thighs. 

“You can’t just say things like that.” Louis was sure he was blushing top to toe. “You sound ridiculous.”

“Don’t care. It’s true.” Harry nipped at Louis’ thigh. “I’ll tell anyone who’ll listen.”

“That’s not necessary,” Louis muttered, squirming against the bed, his cock hard and heavy. “What is necessary,” he tried to say, trailing off in another moan as Harry buried his face between Louis’s thighs. “Fuck.” He ground against the mattress again, chasing the heat. “What is necessary,” he bit out, “is you touching me right the fuck now.” He rocked his hips pointedly. 

“Or what?”

“Or you’ll never get to taste me again.”

Louis didn’t need to look to know Harry was pouting. 

“You would’t be so cruel.”

“You obviously don’t know me if that’s what you think.”

He felt Harry’s weight press against him quickly, Harry’s breath hot in his ear.

“I know you better than you think,” Harry growled, low and steady. “And you wouldn’t do that. You love me tasting you. You love tasting yourself on my tongue.” 

Louis could feel Harry’s length pressing down against him, nestled between his cheeks. He wanted Harry to move, dammit. He tried to rut back, but he knew it was hopeless. Harry was going to take his sweet time. 

“I know what you want right now,” Harry continued, ignoring Louis’ feeble attempts. 

“Yeah? And what’s that?”

In lieu of a reply, Louis felt Harry’s teeth ghost across his back, his shoulders, down to his neck, his breath blowing hot against already sticky skin. Louis shivered as Harry’s teeth came to rest at the base of his neck, the idea of a bite causing a fresh rush of slick to slide between his cheeks as Harry finally - _finally_ \- bucked against him. Was this what Harry meant? Did he know Louis craved his bite? Did he know how much it hurt Louis that they couldn’t - shouldn’t - do this? 

“You want me inside you,” Harry finished. 

Louis determinedly ignored the flare of disappointment that rushed through his body. A bite was a bad idea. It was a good thing Harry hadn’t mentioned it. 

“Obviously,” Louis snapped instead. “Or else I wouldn’t be here.” 

Harry had the nerve to laugh, before rolling off Louis, sprawling on his back beside him. It took Louis a moment to get his thoughts in order, his mind still addled from the suggestion of teeth and the feel of Harry’s mouth against his hole. 

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Go out with me.” Harry smiled beatifically, as if he hadn’t just left Louis stranded mid-erection. 

“What?”

“Let’s go out. To the park. To a restaurant. Somewhere. I want to show you off.” He traced the trail of marks he’d left on Louis’ collarbones. “That would make me happy. Wouldn’t it make you happy?”

Louis’ mouth twisted down, the brightness in Harry’s eyes dipping. 

“Lou?” 

Lou rolled away from Harry’s out-stretched arms, his hard-on wilting. He couldn’t look him in the eye. 

“Are you ashamed of me? Or, embarrassed?” 

“Of course not.”  “Then what’s the problem?” 

Harry could feel Lou closing off, shifting away from him both physically and mentally. 

“Fuck, Lou. You can’t keep doing this.”  “Doing what?”

“Playing dumb. You’re not dumb. You’re the cleverest person I know.”

Louis snorted.

“You _are_. You’re the cleverest, funniest, kindest, _bravest_ person I know.” Harry moved to Louis, swiftly straddling him and cupping Louis’ face between his hands. “It’s why I fell in love with you. It’s why I fall in love with you more and more each day. So please: talk to me.”

Louis vaguely wished he wasn’t naked for this talk. Or that he didn’t have slick trying between his thighs. He didn't feel particularly brave right now.

“I don’t want this to go public.”

Harry frowned, his brow crinkling.

“What do you mean?” 

“This. Us. Whatever it is we’re doing,” he mumbled, not quite able to meet Harry’s eyes. “That’s why I don’t want to go out. I don’t want photos taken. Or to be reported on.”

“But - how are we going to be together then? I can barely walk down the street without someone taking a photo.”

“I know,” Louis muttered, his heart sinking. “That’s why I don’t think we can be together.”

Harry’s heart felt like it had just taken a running jump off a cliff. 

“Then what - what was all this?” Harry asked, motioning between them, the lovebites littering their skin and the sheets long past saving. “Why are you here if you don’t think we can be together? I thought -” 

Louis hated the look he’d put on Harry’s face. He _hated_ it. He looked like Louis had just kicked a puppy. No, even worse; he looked like he was the kicked puppy. Louis shouldn’t have come here. Not when he knew how Harry felt. It wasn’t fair to either of them. 

“Harry,” he murmured, reaching out for him, surprised when Harry didn’t flinch back. Instead, Harry pushed into the touch, almost nuzzling against Louis’ hand. “I’m being selfish. I wasn’t thinking straight, otherwise I never would have come here. And then - ” 

“Don’t,” Harry said, his voice quavering. “Just don’t. Don’t say you didn’t want this.” 

Fuck. Louis could see tears in his eyes.

“That’s not what I was going to say, love. I was going to say I shouldn’t have come here, but now that I’m here I don’t want to leave.” He pressed a gentle kiss to Harry’s lips.

Harry’s shoulders dropped slightly, a minuscule amount of tension disappearing. He leant forward, pressing their foreheads together as he gripped Louis’ hand. 

“You’ve got to help me here, Lou. I’m losing my mind. I don’t know what you want.” 

“I want you. I’ve always wanted you.” 

“I’ve always wanted you,” Harry replied, his voice small and quiet. “But if we both want each other, then why does it matter if the media know? Why can’t we be together?” His hand caressed Louis’ stomach and the imaginary bump Louis was convinced he’d developed. “Especially now?”

“I don’t want to ruin you.”

“You won’t.”

“You don’t know that,” Louis insisted. “The band, the fans - they all have certain expectations. You’re Harry Styles, for God’s sake. You’re not exactly expected to settle down with a baby. Not that you’d even want to settle down,” he added hurriedly. “I know we’re just fooling around or whatever but - ”

“We’re not fooling around, Lou. We never have been.”

“What about - I mean, we’ve never been exclusive.”

“Have you been with others?” Harry’s hand smoothed along Louis’ skin comfortingly.

“No.”

“Neither have I.”

Louis couldn’t help the sceptical look on his face. Harry tried not to be insulted.

“You know me. I’m not the type to hop from bed to bed.”

“But I read online that - ”

“Jesus Christ, Lou!” Harry reeled back, putting the smallest amount of distance between them. To Louis, it felt like far too much. “Surely you trust me more than some bloody online article? You saw what the Daily Mail said about you and Niall. You know what they’re like!”

Louis flushed, feeling strangely hypocritical. 

“I thought you were just being polite. I thought you didn’t want to hurt my feelings.”

“Fuck,” was all Harry managed in reply. “Zayn was right.”

Louis waited, but Harry was too lost in his own head to elaborate. His brow was furrowed as he gnawed on his lip, and Louis wanted to kiss away the sorrow on his face. 

“Zayn was right about what?” Louis finally asked, daring to pull Harry closer again.

“He said we should have talked about it. About us. What we are to each other. But I thought it was obvious. Right, Lou?”   
Harry’s eyes were big and shining and Louis felt lost in them. Had it been obvious? Had he been in denial all this time? He didn’t think so. 

“I thought we were just friends with benefits. Someone you could trust away from the celebrity spotlight.”

“You are,” Harry started. “Of course you are. But you’re so much more than that. You’re my - my everything. You always have been. Even before all this fame,” he finished, the word sounding bitter in his mouth.

Somewhere, someplace, Louis was pretty sure the universe was laughing at him. All this time he’d spent pining over Harry, and apparently Harry had felt the same.

“I’d never have spent my ruts with you if it hadn’t meant something to me. I’d rather go it alone than do that to you. I wouldn’t have risked our friendship for convenience. I thought you knew that. I thought you understood.” Harry tugged at his hair anxiously, his lip bitten raw. “All this time. All this time you thought that we were just friends?”

“Best friends.”

Harry was looking at him like he was an idiot. 

“Niall and Zayn are my best friends, Louis. I don’t spend ruts with them. I don’t kiss them, or touch them. I don’t wake up early just to say goodnight to them when we’re in different time zones. I don’t imagine a _future_ with them. I don’t - I just _don’t_ , Louis.” 

Louis was stunned. Harry had thought about a future with him?

He wanted to reach for Harry and kiss him. He wanted to push Harry away and tell him this would never work. He wanted Harry to stop looking like his world was falling apart. 

“I don’t know what to say, Harry. We hadn’t made any promises, or commitments to each other.”

“You’re inked into my skin,” Harry hissed. “How much more permanent can I get?”

Louis flushed as Harry gestured to his lone tattoo, a tiny L in the centre of his palm, so small as to hardly be noticeable.

“It’s hardly permanent,” Louis said, wishing he could shut his big mouth sometimes. “Palm tattoos fade.”

“Yeah, that’s why I get it reinked every six months. I wouldn’t do that for a friend.” 

He linked their palms together.

“So tell me again why we can’t be together.”

The moment dragged out, Harry pressed close to Louis, skin to skin. Their breath intermingled as Harry leant forward, pressing a chaste kiss to Louis’ lips. 

“We can’t.” 

Harry flinched. 

Louis wished they could just go back to rolling around in bed naked. That had been fun.

“Why not?”

“Because we can’t be together in a way that would make me happy. Not really.”

“Because of the cameras? The press?”

“I don’t want that scrutiny. I’ve never wanted it. A couple of nights ago there was a photographer camped outside my house, and that was only because of a few photos of me and Niall messing around. Imagine what that would be like if everyone knew I’d been knocked up by Harry Styles.”   
“It wouldn’t be like that forever. Just until the next story.”

“And what about your fans? Think of the online hate I’ll get for stealing away the great Harry Styles.”

“You already stole my heart,” Harry said, pressing another kiss to Louis’ lips. “It’s too late.”

Despite himself, Louis couldn’t stop the small smile on his face at his ridiculous, sappy Harry. He allowed himself the luxury of pressing forward, kissing Harry hard.

When he pulled back, Harry looked like he was on Cloud Nine. 

“Even if I already have your heart, they don’t know that. They’ll hate me. They hate everyone you’re rumoured to be with.”

“They won’t hate you. They couldn’t. You’re too adorable.”

Louis rolled his eyes, ignoring Harry’s comment. 

“I don’t want to risk it, though. I don’t want to risk our friendship anymore than I already have. If we’re together and I’m hounded down the street by photographers and on the internet by fans then I’ll just end up resenting you. I don’t want that. I just wasn’t made for the celebrity lifestyle.”

Harry sat back, thinking. His thumb continued to caress Louis’ hand where they were still clasped together, rhythmically soothing Louis’ anxious heart. 

“Have you enjoyed this?” Harry asked abruptly. “These last few days.”

“Yes. O-of course,” Louis said, tripping over his tongue in his haste to reassure Harry. “I wish we could stay in this bubble forever.”

Harry smiled, ducking down for a longer kiss. 

“What if I could change things. Fix things. Make it so we could be together in a way that would make you happy.” Louis looked up at him uncertainly. “I want this, Lou. So bad. But only if you’re willing.”

Louis hesitated. He thought back to a few days ago when he was in Doncaster and all he could think of was Harry. Or how he’d put off telling Harry he was pregnant for fear of losing him. Or the low ache he felt whenever Harry was away on tour, and the giddiness he felt when they were reunited. Harry was the first person he wanted to tell his good news to, and the first one he wanted to turn to when his day had gone all wrong. He couldn’t even remember the last time he’d looked at someone else and wanted them. And now they were having a baby. And Harry thought they could be together. That they could make it work.

“Alright.”

The word was low and quiet, but Harry didn’t miss it. His face split into a grin and he was falling onto Louis, pushing him back and peppering him with kisses. 

His joy was infectious, and soon Louis was grinning widely. 

“I’m going to make it work, Lou. I promise. I promise, I promise, I promise,” he chanted, pressing kisses up and down Louis’ chest. 

“I believe you,” Louis said. 

Harry’s energy subsided into something quieter, something softer, as he smiled at Louis. 

“I believe in us,” he replied.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter's late - Spring Break and all that! 
> 
> Let me know what you think and if you like this :)


	7. Chapter 7

Louis was 99.9% certain he’d fucked up. Like, 99.99%. 

This was absolutely not what he’d wanted to happen. He was supposed to make a clean break from Harry. Not end up at his place, miserable and lonely, ready to fall into his arms. 

Of course, it was hard to convince himself of that when Harry was busy swallowing his dick in the shower, or sucking marks across his chest as they stopped for water in the kitchen, or when they collapsed back onto the bed and Harry proceeded to eat him out. It was really hard. He was the victim here, really. How exactly was one supposed to resist a man like Harry Styles? Especially when he whispered sweet, ridiculous words, promising that they’d be together forever. 

He really wanted to believe. 

“There’s a photographer tailing us,” Louis muttered.

“Let them,” Harry said, maintaining a careful distance as they strolled down the street. “They’ve already got hundreds of photos of us together. What’s one more?”

“I wasn’t pregnant then. I was the random friend who was edited out of photos before they went to press. Now everyone’s speculating.”

Louis was trying not to be bitter. He really was. But he’d been hanging around the band since before they were famous and the media had never given a flying fuck who he was. Then one lunch with Niall and it had all gone to hell. 

But still. This was part of Harry’s plan. They were nothing but two bros, out enjoying a sunny day. That’s all they were. The more photos of them taken hanging out, being completely platonic, the more likely it was the cameras would get bored with them and go harass someone else. Louis pitied whoever their next victim was. Unless it was Nick Grimshaw. That twat deserved it. 

Louis huffed a sigh, trying not to sound as despondent as he really was. He hated this. It was only one photographer and he already felt like he was under a microscope. 

Harry’s hand twitched out, an aborted attempt at hand-holding. 

“Sorry,” Harry said. 

He sounded so pathetically sad. Louis wanted to kiss him until he couldn’t stop smiling. 

Was that something they could do now? Could Louis lean over and kiss Harry - as long as they were in private - whenever he wanted? Could he do it around Liam? Or the band? Were they a couple now? Were they more?

Louis snorted to himself. How exactly could they be more than a couple? It’s not as if marriage was on the agenda.

Louis viciously shoved down the next thought that came to him.

“What so funny?”

“Nothing,” Louis said, shaking his head at himself. “I’m just, a little overwhelmed, I think.”

“Me too.”

That caught Louis by surprise. 

“You are?”

“Of course,” Harry laughed. He looked around conspiratorially, making sure no one was in earshot before he leant in closer. “The guy I’ve been in love with since I can remember is in love with me too. Not only that, but he’s my best mate. _And_ we’re having a baby together.” He drew back, unable to contain the smile on his face. “I don’t know what to do with myself. It’s like all my dreams came true at once.”   
Louis blushed. He was sure he’d never blushed more than he had over the last few days. 

“You’re ridiculous.”

“Ridiculously in love,” Harry countered, brushing his floppy hair from his face. “I’d kiss you right now, if I could,” Harry continued happily. His smile wavered slightly, his footsteps slowing. “One day I’ll be able to walk down this street and hold your hand and kiss you, and no one will bat an eyelid. But I’m willing to wait, for now. If you are.”

Louis nodded.

“Good. I’ve still got to talk to my team about everything, but soon, Louis. I promise.” 

Louis was starting to wonder if he was dreaming. This all felt too surreal to be true. Here was this beautiful boy, promising him the world, and all he had to do was agree to wait. To let him take care of it. 

They continued down the street until they reached The Goat, a pub masquerading as a restaurant. Louis had never been fond of it, but Harry always dragged him there on summer days, wanting to take advantage of the outdoor seating area and the overabundance of potted flowers. Now he was dragging Louis there to catch up with the rest of their motley crew. 

Harry deftly plucked a handful of flowerheads as they entered, sprinkling them into Louis’ hair. 

“Vandal,” Louis pretended to grouch, loosely shaking his hair out. He could tell by the smirk on Harry’s face that he probably hadn’t managed to dislodge many of them. 

“I always knew you were a punk rocker with flowers in your hair,” Harry singsonged. 

Louis’ groan was cut short by a shout, followed by a hand manically waving to them through the crowd of patrons, most of whom pretended to be far too cool to acknowledge that Harry Styles was standing in their midst. 

They ambled their way over to a table Niall had snagged.

“Liam not here yet?” Louis asked, snagging a handful of peanuts from the bowl on the table. 

“He’s gone to the bar with Zayn,” Niall replied. “Said he knew what you’d want to order.”

“Like hell he knows what I want. He just wants to be close to Zayn.”

Niall cackled at that, familiar with Liam’s little crush. 

“I see Hazza’s up to his old ways,” he added, nodding at Louis’ hair. “Want me to get them out for you?”

“Nah,” Louis shrugged. “I like ‘em.” His eyes locked with Harry. For a moment, it was like he forgot how to breathe. 

“You two are sickening.” 

“Who’s sickening?” Liam asked, pushing his way into the space they’d carved out for themselves, situating himself behind Louis.

“Who do you think?” Zayn muttered, crowding in next to him, separating Harry and Louis further. “You can smell their happiness a mile off.”

Louis stiffened slightly at that. He’d made Harry douse him in scent-blocker before they’d left, much to the alpha’s disappointment, then doused Harry in return. He didn’t want any further articles in the bloody Sun or Daily Mail with random bystanders making assumptions regarding their scents.

“Relax,” Harry reassured him across the table. “He’s joking.”  “I’m fucking not. I told Liam I could tell the moment you two arrived. Didn’t I, Liam?” Zayn asked, turning to Liam for support. 

Liam, however, had already picked up on Louis’ anxiety, and was reaching out to sling an arm round his shoulder.

“He doesn’t mean it like that, Lou,” he said, keeping his voice quiet. “We can’t smell you two on each other. We just know you’re happy.”

“Oh, shit, yeah,” Zayn said. “Sorry, mate. I didn’t mean it like I could tell what you two had been up to or anything. Not that you’ve been up to anything,” he hurriedly added. 

Niall snorted. 

“Smooth, Zayn.”

“Just because they’re happy, doesn’t mean I should make assumptions!”

“Yeah,” Liam said, “But I’d say the fact they’ve been MIA for the last few days - ”

“Not to mention those lovebites I’m pretty sure Hazza’s sporting - ”

“Means it’s probably safe to make assumptions.”

All eyes dipped to Harry’s low-buttoned shirt. It did nothing to cover his collarbones, where small marks littered his skin, and dipped low enough to reveal the hint of a very dark, very large bite Louis had spent time sucking into place last night. Louis was proud of it, really, but now was not the time to show it off. 

“I said you should have worn a different shirt.”

Harry shrugged, smiling. 

“Awh, look: their first domestic,” Niall cooed obnoxiously.

“Shut it,” Louis snapped, flicking some of his drink onto Niall. “This is absolutely not the best place to talk about it.” He tilted his head to the crowd of summer drinkers at their backs. 

The group instantly simmered down, though Louis noticed the curious glances turned his way.

Niall was the one who finally spoke.

“Can we ask - no details, no specifics - but can we ask?” he started tentatively. “If everything’s . . . sorted? Settled? Are you both on the same page now?”

Louis looked toward Harry before answering. Were they both on the same page?

“I think so,” he said cautiously. 

Harry nodded, a small, private smile on his face. 

“I mean, I still have questions, I guess,” Louis continued, “but, uhm, yeah? I think we are.”

The smiles around the table were instantaneous. 

“Fucking finally!” Zayn crowed, swinging an arm round Liam, pulling him into a congratulatory hug. Louis couldn’t help notice the way Liam pinked at the contact. 

“The amount of whining I’ve had to put up with from this one,” Zayn said, nodding toward Harry. “Years of my life, _wasted_.”

Louis was pretty sure even Harry was starting to blush. 

“I wasn’t that bad,” he whispered furiously.

“Mate, you were,” Niall said, piling on. “We had meetings about it. Developed coping strategies.”

“Don’t even start,” Liam said. “I had it from both of them. Wanted to knock their bloody heads together most of the time. The pining was unbearable.” 

“We should set up a support group,” Zayn said, turning to Liam. “You know, for those who survived this nightmare. We can do drinks round mine and talk about how irritating they were then, and how sickening they’re gonna be now.”

“Why do I get the feeling I won’t be invited,” Niall murmured as an aside to Louis. 

Louis snorted into his drink. Zayn _was_ being awfully touchy-feely with Liam. 

Harry started to hum _Love Is In The Air_ at that point, a sappy look on his face. Louis assumed it was directed at Zayn and Liam at first, but one look across the table and Louis knew. Harry was humming it for him. 

********

Louis was relieved to see the photographer was gone from outside his flat. Honestly, he’d have been surprised if the bloke had still been there after so many days, but it’d still been worrying him. 

“So, you two sorted things out?” Liam asked from beside him. 

Despite Harry’s puppy dog eyes, Louis had insisted on returning to his own flat without him, not willing to test their luck any further. Liam, of course, had been free to accompany Louis home, seeing as he wasn’t a bloody superstar popstar. 

“I guess.”

“You guess?”

“It’s complicated.”

“I’ve got all night,” Liam said, dropping down onto Louis’ sofa.

“You’re not spending the night,” Louis instantly said, heading into the kitchen to make himself a cuppa. He begrudgingly got out a mug for Liam too: he’d be staying late, whatever Louis tried to tell him.

“I’m not sure if we’re _together_ -together.”

Liam arched an eyebrow, but didn’t interrupt. 

“I told him we couldn’t be, actually.” Louis purposefully busied himself with the tea at this point, not wanting to see the look on Liam’s face. “I don’t want that level of scrutiny. I don’t want the cameras flashing every time we go out. I don’t want to be in gossip rags, or to have random fans messaging me, wanting to know every detail of our lives. I’m not cut out for that.”

The silence from Liam was deafening. He didn’t even say thank you when Louis deposited the tea in front of him. Instead, he waited until Louis was settled, mug of tea on the table beside him, then whacked him with a pillow.

“What the fuck?” 

It hurt a surprising amount.

“Nothing. You’re just a bloody idiot. This is _Harry_ we’re talking about. You two are practically destined for each other. What the hell do you mean you’re not cut out for it?”

“Would you be? Would you want all of that?”

“If I could be with the man I loved I figure it’s worth it.”

“You mean, if you could be with Zayn?”

Liam pinked again, but wouldn’t be deterred.

“We’re not changing the subject. Tell me what happened next. Why the hell was Harry so happy this afternoon if you said you wouldn’t be with him.”

“I didn’t say that _exactly_. Just that I can’t be with him right now. Not unless things changed.”

“Things? What things?”

Louis shrugged. 

“Just things,” he answered vaguely. “We’re meeting with his team tomorrow to talk it all through. He, he says he loves me and he’s willing to wait. He says he’s got a plan to make it work, so . . . yeah.”

“And is that what you want? Do you want to make it work?”

Louis nodded. Of course he fucking wanted that. It just didn’t seem possible, even with all of Harry’s promises. 

“Well then I’m happy for you, even if I think you’re being an idiot about the whole thing.” 

Louis’ phone beeped then, and Liam laughed.

“I bet that’s him.”

**Harry**   
_Wish you were here._

Louis grinned, tapping out his reply.

**Louis**   
_Miss you too xx_

**Harry**   
_Love you xxxxxxx_

Louis laughed. He was living a fairytale. A beautiful boy was in love with him. They were really going to be together. They were going to make this work. 

He felt on top of the world.

********

Louis had rarely ever accompanied Harry to his record label’s HQ. He had waited in the lobby a couple of times, but never made it all the way into the elevator. He wished things didn’t have to change. 

He sighed deeply. In the privacy of the elevator, Harry gripped his hand. 

“It’ll be okay,” he said. “They already know it’s my baby.”   
“Yeah? I bet that went down a treat.”

Harry shrugged, infuriating Louis. Why did he always have to be so chill about everything?

“There were some pointed words. Nothing I couldn’t handle.”

“Surprised they didn’t tell you to get a pat test.”

“Oh, they did. Pretty sure Zayn had to stop me throwing something at them at that point.”   
“They were just doing their job, Harry.”

“And I was doing mine,” he said, dropping Louis’ hand as the elevator doors slid open. Louis pretended not to be disappointed. They still needed to be discrete. Harry was just doing what Louis had asked him to. 

“Yeah? You have a job I don’t know about?”

“No. Just the two: popstar extraordinaire and loving boyfriend. Partner. Whatever we are.”

“Smooth, H. Smooth.”

“Shut up.” 

For a moment, it looked like Harry was about to reach across and wipe Louis’ smug grin off with a kiss. A throat cleared however, breaking the spell. 

“Harry,” a man said, smiling as he approached. “The boys are already in the conference room. Why don’t you go on ahead while I look after Louis.”

Harry’s brow wrinkled. 

“Louis’ coming in with me.”

“Yes, of course, of course. But we’re not talking about _that_ yet,” he said, his eyes briefly dropping down to Louis’ stomach. “Just some issues with the next album we want to get ironed out before we move on to the issue at hand.” His eyes dropped down to Louis’ stomach again; Louis was starting to feel a little like an exhibit. 

Harry looked torn, so Louis pressed a reassuring hand to his side, smiling his best smile.

“It’s okay, Haz. I’ll join you soon.”

“Brilliant,” the man chirped. “I’ll just take Louis to get some water. He’ll be right as rain with me.”

“I don’t know,” Harry said, his words slower and heavier than usual, which was really saying something. “It seems, unnecessary?”

“It’s fine, Haz. Really. The sooner you guys sort out the album or whatever, the sooner I’ll be there.”

Harry chewed his lip a moment before nodding. 

“Okay. Aiden’ll show you around.”

Aiden patted Harry on the shoulder, practically pushing him down the hallway toward the conference room. Louis decided he really didn’t like this man.

“Louis!” Aiden said, turning back. “How are you feeling? Do you need to sit down? Can I get you anything?”

His questions came a mile a minute as he ushered Louis further from Harry.

“Have your feet started to swell yet? I’m not sure how far along in the, uh, _process_ , you have to be for that to happen, but your feet are looking a little big.”

Louis wanted to smack him. His feet were definitely not swollen. Was Aiden just randomly insulting his feet? And ‘process’? Did he have a problem with saying the word ‘pregnancy’? It’s not as if Louis’ situation was exactly a secret.

Aiden glanced back, as if to make sure Harry was well and truly gone. He nodded to himself, and Louis realised they were completely alone.

The smile dropped from Aiden’s face. 

“I’m going to say something to you, as a friend,” he started, gripping Louis’ shoulder intently. “Can I do that?”

Louis opened his mouth to reply, to say _no_ , they most definitely were not friends, but Aiden barrelled on.

“If you care about him, about Harry, at all, even one iota, you’ll leave. You’ll turn around, you’ll take that baby, and you’ll go. You won’t contact him again. Pick somewhere, anywhere on the map, and go there. We’ll pay for it. Just so long as you don’t see him again.”

Louis’ flapped his mouth like a fish, searching for words.

“What?” he finally managed. 

“Do you care for him?” Aiden asked.

Louis was still stunned, reeling. What was even happening?

“Do you care for him, Louis? Answer me. It’s very important.” 

Louis could feel Aiden’s fingers digging further into his shoulder, almost painfully so. Aiden was so close Louis could actually feel his hot breath on his face, the hint of stale coffee wafting over him. He wanted to pull back, to drag himself away, but Aiden’s eyes pinned him to the spot.

“Do you care for him?”

Louis nodded. 

“Good.” Aiden released his grip from Louis’ shoulder, and Louis almost winced as the blood came rushing back. “Then you’ll walk away.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for still reading this!
> 
> I treasure each and every comment and kudos :)


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